The original online guide to the Volkswagen Cabriolet & Rabbit Convertible!

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VINs outside North America, and the VINs found stamped into the rain tray of all
Cabriolets, contain four "Z"s. For North American Cabriolets, these are merely filler
digits. The rain tray VINs were standard issue as the cars rolled off the initial
phase of the assembly line; the only difference between these standard-issue model-year
VINs is the sequential production number. Locations outside of the USA & Canada
do not require the same VIN information (many locations, including Europe, still
require only a 13-digit VIN) and, therefore, use filler digits during stamping to
make the initial assembly process easier and faster.

For example, if 30,000 Cabriolets were built for the 1985 model year, the first Cabriolet
built for that year would have WVWZZZ15ZFK000001, while the last 1985 Cabriolet would
have a WVWZZZ15ZFK030000 stamped into the rain tray. As the cars went through final
assembly, they received their official, individual VINs based on their destination;
it was at this time that North American Cabriolets obtained their non-"Z" VINs, while
cars destined for sale in Europe received the "Z" VIN on the door plate, the dash
plate and on the build sheet. Using the same example, that first 1985 Cabriolet
was destined for, let's say, the USA; it's official VIN would be WVWCA0158FK000001
(the internal check code varies and may not actually be an 8). The last Cabriolet
for 1985 was destined for, let's say, Italy; it's official VIN would be WVWZZZ15Z030000.
Two build sheets are shown here (with the last 4 digits blurred for security reasons),
so that you can see the differences between these official VINs.

If you doubt the above information, it was all verified by Volkswagen AG: click here
to see the official letter. (Thank you so much to Gail W. for providing this letter
and its translation! Gail had an issue in being able to transport her Cabriolet from
Germany to the USA because of the VIN "discrepancy". This letter was issued to Gail
from Volkswagen AG, providing official verification regarding the "Z" information
outlined above.)

Your Car's Chassis Number

Many times parts are dependent upon your car's chassis number, which is VIN-dependent.
Your car's chassis number is the sequential production number for your car's model
year. An example of this would be the 1984 mid-year change: If you own a 1984 Rabbit
Convertible, you'll need to know the chassis number in order to know if your car
uses an in-tank fuel transfer pump. The chassis numbers would be listed as follows:

To 15-E-11290

From 15-E-11291

The "15" is not always used. The "To E-11290" would indicate the part is for all
Rabbit Convertibles up to 1984 (E) with VIN sequential production number of 11290.

UK "regs" Deciphered

August to July

A reg = 1983 G reg = 1989

B reg = 1984 H reg = 1990

C reg = 1985 J reg = 1991

D reg = 1986 K reg = 1992

E reg = 1987 L reg = 1993

F reg = 1988

How the Check Digit is Calculated

Step 1: Assign nemerical values to all digits. Numbers 1-10 retain their values.
Letters are assigned the following numerical values:

A = 1 J = 1 T = 3

B = 2 K = 2 U = 4

C = 3 L = 3 V = 5

D = 4 M = 4 W = 6

E = 5 N = 5 X = 7

F = 6 P = 7 Y = 8

G = 7 R = 9 Z = 9

H = 8 S = 2

Step 2: Assign a weight value to each digit based on its position.

Step 3: Multiply each digit's numerical value by its weight value.

Step 4: Add the results (products) from step 3 and divide by 11. The resulting remainder
is the VIN check digit; if the remainder is 10, the check digit becomes an "X" in
the VIN.

In the above example, the result is 346 / 11 = 32 with remainder of 5. The 5 is
the VIN check digit.